Friday, August 31, 2018

Environment groups blast gov’t on mining ‘turnaround’

Environment groups on Friday blasted the plan of the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to issue more mineral
reservations in the country as a “reversal” of Duterte government’s
supposed anti-mining policy.

In separate statements, the Center for Energy, Environment
and Development and the Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment
scored the DENR for its failure to live up to its mandate of
safeguarding country’s natural resources.

“If this (proposal) pushed through and gets affirmed by the
President, this will then be a clear signal of the blatant reversal of
anti-mining pronouncements of the President during his Presidential
campaign and his past (State of the Nation Addresses),” said CEED Gerry
Arances, executive director.

The DENR, in a news release on Thursday, announced it was
set to declare more mineral reservation areas throughout the country “to
help provide equitable access to mineral resources and generate
additional nontax revenues for the government.”

The announcement came on the heels of the 2017 Commission on Audit
report, which questioned the Mines and Geosciences Bureau’s failure to
collect some P2.7 billion in royalties from existing mining operations.

The government’s economic managers also blamed the lackluster
performance in the mining and quarrying industry for the “slow” growth
of the economy, dropping to 6 percent in the second quarter.

Lawyer Analiza Rebuelta Teh, DENR undersecretary for mining concerns,
said the declaration of mineral reservations shall allow government to
collect royalties—something it cannot do with the present mining
operations.

But the DENR must approach its newest tack with caution, Arances
said, as the government’s control and management of declared mineral
reservations remain “plagued by various issues”.

“It has been clear in many studies that no amount of increase in
share and royalties from mining can outweigh the devastating impacts to
watersheds, forest cover, climate resiliency and many others,” he said.

For Kalikasan PNE, the planned expansion of mineral reservation areas
is “unsurprising”, as the Duterte administration has been known for
“successive reversals” amid the President’s “tough-talk” on mining
policies.

Leon Dulce, Kalikasan national coordinator, cited the impending
reversal of the closure and suspension orders for 24 of the 28 mines
sanctioned by former Environment Sec. Regiina Paz Lopez, and the recent
lifting the two-year mining exploration ban.

He dismissed the newest DENR move as one for fiscal equity, but a
“clear attempt to further wholesale” mineralized lands in the country.

Opening up more lands to mineral reservations is part of the “more
business as usual” scenario which the Duterte government is pursuing, he
said.

“The fact that this peacocking to foreign mining investors when
outstanding problems in environmental and social regulations remain
unaddressed runs contrary to the promise of cracking down on destructive
mines,” Dulce said. /kga